by ezs | Sep 28, 2005 | evilzenscientist, Uncategorized
ex-Noveller Todd Dailey blogs on making his iPod Nano perfect again.
I guess there’s a disclaimer somewhere that Todd works for Apple – but it’s fun none the less to see blogosphere hysteria brought to earth with a polish of Brasso.
[Update – Todd got a front page on Memeorandum!]
by ezs | Sep 26, 2005 | blogging, evilzenscientist, Uncategorized
I’m surprised this hasn’t reached more people – a great PDF from Reporters Sans Frontiers
There is a great essay included from Dan Gillmore – “What Ethics Should Bloggers Have?” – one of my pet topics; this really goes back to the trust and implied trust between bloggers and readers.
Worth a read.
by ezs | Sep 25, 2005 | evilzenscientist, Uncategorized
The capabilities of browser based applications have exploded in recent years. (This is especially important for ZENworks – as we move the management console to the new ZENworks Control Center.)
There is a breaking set of new ‘Web 2.0’ applications that use AJAX to deliver a really rich UI; Google Maps is probably the most well known; but I also love these:
– Protopage
– BACKBASE
I remember some of the contortions that had to turned just a few years ago to get anything even looking like this in a browser.
I saw some of the Hula calendar work when I was last in Cambridge – it all looked very slick.
TechCrunch is a great resource for tracking some of these new concepts.
I predict that these UIs will become prevalent on the most sticky sites; I also hope that a lot of the ‘cool’ and ‘sexy’ comes across into the more mundane enterprise IT world.
by ezs | Sep 24, 2005 | evilzenscientist, Uncategorized
I finally spent some time (and parted with the hard earned) and got some new music:
Camera Obscura – Biggest Bluest Hifi
Camera Obscura – Underachievers Please Try Harder
I first heard this band on the John Peel 65th Birthday Party – it’s a lot like early Belle and Sebastian; mellow lyrics and guitar. Best served with a nice bottle of red.
Decemberists – Picaresque
This band is on tour this fall – nearest gig to SLC is in Boise, ID. Huh? Go figure. SLC truly is a live music backwater – my proof points are here and here.
Final hit was a couple of CDs from DJ Tiësto – a hot tip from Mark Schouls.
DJ Tiësto – In My Memory
DJ Tiësto – Parade of the Athletes
Nice – a couple of hours of European electronic music. Good for the drive into work.
by ezs | Sep 23, 2005 | evilzenscientist, Linux, Uncategorized, ZENworks
ZENworks OS imaging has always been based on the Linux kernel – it’s fast, efficient, has a great networking stack and is also extensible. None of the problems of DOS and getting NDIS drivers etc.
Earlier versions of ZENworks – (ZfD 3.x, ZfD 4.0, ZENworks 6, ZENworks 6.5) – spawned a slew of sites dedicated to tweaking this Linux environment. Notable is the Novell Forge Project zfdimgdrv. The imaging environment has also been extended by the likes of ENGL.
ZENworks 7 changed to a SLES 9 SP2-based kernel; this provides extensive hardware support (and real support; things that have been tested).
For unsupported hardware – or to add updated drivers – life is now a lot simpler.
Matt Misbach – one of the ZENworks engineers – passed on this tip:
- Obtain the binary driver file, it has the extension of “.ko”, (If no binary driver is available, then the source needs to be obtained and built on a sles9 sp2 machine.)
- On your ZENworks server mount the /srv/tftp/boot/initrd file using a similar command:
mount -o loop /srv/tftp/boot/initrd /mnt
- copy the new .ko file into the /mnt/lib/modules/2.6.5-override-default/initrd
- umount /mnt
by ezs | Sep 23, 2005 | evilzenscientist, Linux, Uncategorized, ZENworks
As mentioned I’m working on a best practices guide for ZLM7.
I’m writing a discussion of the package universe concept; how it differs from previous versions of ZLM (ZLM 6.x and RCE) and some design recommendations.
I also wrote a nifty script to populate the package universe 🙂 I’ll share that when I’ve tested it to death – but here’s the output:
Right now I can build all of my package universe as well as SP2 updates for SLES 9 and NLD 9. It takes about 20 minutes and minimal prep work.
(more…)
by ezs | Sep 23, 2005 | evilzenscientist, Linux, Uncategorized, ZENworks
I started zlmirror running last night – on my live server.
It ate all my bandwidth 🙂

by ezs | Sep 23, 2005 | evilzenscientist, Novell BrainShare, Uncategorized
No sooner is BrainShare Barcelona over – then we start planning for BrainShare in Salt Lake City in March 2006!
I don’t want to reveal anything on our plans – but for the ZENworks tracks it’s going to be very interesting. Watch this space!
by ezs | Sep 21, 2005 | evilzenscientist, Linux, Uncategorized, ZENworks
I’ve been flooded with requests for a more detailed ZENworks 7 Linux Management document – something like what I wrote for ZLM 6.6.1
I’m on it now. I am installing to a fresh, new SLES 9 server – and hopefully I’ll get something out soon.
Current fun – documenting the server-side dependancies. XFree86-libs? wtf? Turns out some of the eDirectory management tools have funky requirements. Do people really build servers with X and a desktop on them?
by ezs | Sep 20, 2005 | evilzenscientist, travel, Uncategorized
I managed to get some time out from BrainShare last week. I spent a few hours with John Mahon from Dublin at the Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia. More simply the cathedral of La Sagrada Familia.
For anyone who has ever been to Barcelona – or even heard of Barcelona – it is one of the most striking sights in the city. Totally dominating the skyline from every part of the city. Add to this the story of how this massive cathedral has been under construction for over a century; with still decades to completion.
(more…)
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